


Wouldn't Hang About

by Katherine



Category: The Lion King (1994)
Genre: Alternate Universe - What If?, Diverges from canon, Gen, Hakuna Matata, In the jungle, Scar's Reign
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 09:20:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20133079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katherine/pseuds/Katherine
Summary: Scar did not want Zazu's service in any case. Zazu left in a flutter.





	Wouldn't Hang About

Scar did not want Zazu's service in any case. Zazu left in a flutter, expecting any moment to be snatched in powerful hyena jaws at Scar's instruction. The hyenas would put him into a cage of bones at Scar's word. Or at their whim would press him on to the hot vents in their own grim territory to get him ready boiled. Better to escape those awful chances.

He would miss the satisfaction of service to the Pride Land's rightful line of kings. The lionesses' steady presence. Rafiki's distant wisdom. All, now that he was leaving, in Zazu's past. So, too, was watching over mischievous cubs.

Nala was more subdued with each day that passed, and now Zazu would never see her grow into the queen she would have been at Simba's side. The lost, mourned Prince Simba, who had pounced on Zazu's own tail-feathers. A nuisance at the time, but he could remember it as an honour.

For lack of better direction, Zazu flew over the gorge, faltering at the memory of failure there. Then onwards, above thorn bushes and onwards to desert. The buzzards jeered around him, bullying him out of their patch. Ruffled, Zazu journeyed on.

He was overheated and parched dry. The lush jungle was so welcome he could have thought it no more than an illusion. But the branches were solid under his feet, the big leaves casting welcome shade on him.

He was dazed near to uneasy sleep, drifting into dreams of the past before the hyenas, before Scar, before the stampede in the gorge. When he was a majordomo, reporting directly to King Mufasa while a disrespectful young prince made silly tries at pouncing...

Simba's voice in his memory, and what had to be a dream. The prince sounded just a little older, shockingly carefree—and impossibly alive.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by official merchandise that includes a silhouette of Zazu over ones of cub Simba with Timon and Pumbaa. [No Worries tank top](https://www.shopdisney.com/the-lion-king-tank-top-for-adults-disneys-animal-kingdom-1467423); [Hakuna Matata No Worries sleeveless tee](https://www.shopdisney.com/the-lion-king-sleeveless-t-shirt-for-women-1512848); [Hakuna Matata tank top](https://www.shopdisney.com/the-lion-king-tank-top-for-women-1512744).


End file.
